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Felicia Hall Allen & Associates announced today that A Step Up (Athletic Symposium to Elevate Professionals & Uplift Performance) will move to south Florida in 2014. The annual professional development symposium, which hosts collegiate men’s and women’s basketball assistant coaches and college administrators from across the United States, will take place May 2-4 at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Symposium participants chose South Florida as their top destination for the three-day event, now in its’ fifth year, after also considering Las Vegas and Charlotte, N.C., who hosted the 2013 event.

“It’s a perfect fit for A Step Up,” said Felicia Allen, president and CEO of Felicia Hall Allen & Associates. Saying that Fort Lauderdale is a beautiful place with sandy beaches and hot, sunny weather she added, “Fort Lauderdale offers a warm and relaxed yet upbeat environment much like the atmosphere we like to create with our coaches during the symposium.”

Nicki E. Grossman, president of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, says they are excited about the opportunity to host the event. “We warmly welcome A Step Up and their prestigious group of coaches to Fort Lauderdale to be able to showcase some of our best sports venues and tropical pleasures,” said Grossman.

“Coaches can be prepared to work hard and play hard. Bring your iPad and your beach towel and enjoy this life changing experience,” stated symposium director Johhny Allen.

– Hundreds of collegiate men’s and women’s basketball coaches from Division I, Division II and Division III will gather in Charlotte this weekend for the fourth annual A STEP UP professional development symposium hosted by Felicia Hall Allen & Associates. A Step Up, specifically designed for college basketball assistant coaches will take place at the Marriott Charlotte City Center May 3-5.

University of North Carolina head coach Sylvia Hatchell will deliver the Legends Series opening keynote, sponsored by the NCAA, at the Legends Breakfast on Saturday, May 4 at 8 a.m. Hatchell, who will be inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in September, earned her 900th victory on February 13 joining Hall of Fame coaches Pat Summit, Jody Conradt and C. Vivian Stringer as the only Division I women’s basketball coaches to reach that milestone. Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim and former Indiana head coach Bobby Knight are also members of the exclusive club.

Sessions on Saturday will also include a financial wellness presentation – Developing Your Financial Game plan – by Michael Brinkley, Vice President of Fifth Third Bank.

Johnson C. Smith University men’s basketball coach Steve Joyner will welcome coaches to Brayboy Gymnasium for the first event of A STEP UP:Charlotte2013 at 1 p.m. on Friday , an on-court basketball skills clinic facilitated by Karen Lange of the North Carolina Charlotte 49ers, University of Tennessee assistant Dean Lockwood, Brendan Suhr from the University of Central Florida and Mike Rhoades of Virginia Commonwealth University.

Indianapolis, IN – Felicia Hall Allen, CEO of Felicia Hall Allen & Associates, will
conduct a professional development training session with collegiate athletic
administrators at the 2012 NCAA Student-Athlete Affairs Education and Training
Symposium (ETS) for Life Skills Professionals. Her message will offer
symposium participants best practices as it relates to leading student-athletes and
building their individual brand.

The event will provide an overview of the current state of collegiate athletics as it
pertains to the athletic administrator’s role.

The symposium will take place at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown on
Tuesday, June 12 – Thursday, June 14 for professionals at NCAA member
institutions and conference offices who support student-athletes in any capacity.

About NCAA Student-Athlete Affairs
The NCAA Student-Athlete Affairs unit provides life skills support in the areas of
academics, athletics, personal development, career development and service through
the distribution of accessible resources, strategic partnerships and customized
programming at little or no expense to member institutions. Student-Athlete Affairs
programs, resources and events are designed to promote the well-being and
development of student-athletes and to provide ongoing education and training to
athletics professionals who identify and serve student-athlete needs.

The annual A Step Up professional development symposiums for basketball assistant coaches will take place in Dallas, Texas at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel, beginning this weekend with the women’s event
April 27-29. A Step Up Dallas 2012 concludes with the men’s symposium May 4-6. The three-day event, presented by Felicia Hall Allen & Associates, will bring together coaches from all levels of collegiate basketball, as well as Athletic Administrators and Directors of Basketball Operations.

“We are thrilled about bringing our Professional Development Symposium to Dallas the next two weekends, stated Felicia Hall Allen, who along with her husband Johnny Allen, created and facilitates A Step Up. “Typically coaches motivate and inspire others to achieve maximum results,” added Johnny Allen. “A Step Up will allow them to encourage and challenge one another to pursue their personal best on and off the basketball court.”

A Step Up: Dallas 2012 will kick-off on Friday with an on-court basketball skills clinic at Southern Methodist University’s Crum Practice Facility at 1:30 p.m. Former Texas A&M University assistant and current Mississippi State head coach Vic Schaefer will headline the clinic, along with Bob Starkey, who replaced Schaefer at Texas A&M, Carol Owens of the University of Notre Dame, and Al Brown of Duke University.

Hall of Fame women’s basketball coach Jody Conradt (Texas) will deliver the opening keynote Friday night as part of the Legends Series sponsored by the NCAA. Conradt joins legendary coach Marsha Sharp (Texas Tech), the featured speaker of the Legends Breakfast on Saturday morning at 8:00 a.m.

Dr. Richard Sander, former Athletics Director at Virginia Commonwealth University and founder of the Villa 7 program, is the featured keynote speaker for the men’s symposium.

Another addition to the 2012 symposium is the inclusion of a Director of Athletics panel. Chris Plonsky, women’s Athletics Director at Texas headlines the women’s panel, while Texas Tech Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt and University of North Texas AD Rick Villarreal will host the men.

DALLAS (April 26, 2012) – The annual A Step Up professional development symposiums for basketball assistant coaches will take place in Dallas, Texas at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel, beginning this weekend with the women’s event April 27-29. A Step Up Dallas 2012 concludes with the men’s symposium May 4-6. The three-day event, presented by Felicia Hall Allen & Associates, will bring together coaches from all levels of collegiate basketball, as well as Athletic Administrators and Directors of Basketball Operations.

“We are thrilled about bringing our Professional Development Symposium to Dallas the next two weekends, stated Felicia Hall Allen, who along with her husband Johnny Allen, created and facilitates A Step Up. “Typically coaches motivate and inspire others to achieve maximum results,” added Johnny Allen. “A Step Up will allow them to encourage and challenge one another to pursue their personal best on and off the
basketball court.”

A Step Up: Dallas 2012 will kick-off on Friday with an on-court basketball skills clinic at Southern Methodist University’s Crum Practice Facility at 1:30 p.m. Former Texas A&M University assistant and current Mississippi State head coach Vic Schaefer will headline the clinic, along with Bob Starkey, who replaced Schaefer at Texas A&M, Carol Owens of the University of Notre Dame, and Al Brown of Duke University.

Hall of Fame women’s basketball coach Jody Conradt (Texas) will deliver the opening keynote Friday night as part of the Legends Series sponsored by the NCAA. Conradt joins legendary coach Marsha Sharp (Texas Tech), the featured speaker of the Legends Breakfast on Saturday morning at 8:00 a.m.

Dr. Richard Sander, former Athletics Director at Virginia Commonwealth University and founder of the Villa 7 program, is the featured keynote speaker for the men’s symposium.

Another addition to the 2012 symposium is the inclusion of a Director of Athletics panel. Chris Plonsky, women’s Athletics Director at Texas headlines the women’s panel, while Texas Tech Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt and University of North Texas AD Rick Villarreal will host the men.

About the Symposium
A Step Up (Athletic Symposium to Elevate Professionals & Uplift Performance) is a career building and professional development opportunity for assistant basketball coaches, developed by the husband and wife team of Johnny and Felicia Allen. Its’ mission is to help assistant coaches gain knowledge, discover coaching insights and develop strategies, techniques and tactics to help them reach their full coaching potential. Each year Felicia Hall Allen & Associates chooses a different city to host the symposium. The inaugural symposium was held in Atlanta, Georgia in 2010. The event moved to Chicago last year and adopted the name – A Step Up (Athletic Symposium to Elevate Professionals & Uplift Performance). The Dallas 2012 marks the third symposium for the women basketball coaches and the first for the men.

Legendary women’s basketball coaches Jody Conradt and Marsha Sharp will serve as keynote speakers at A Step Up Dallas 2012, as part of the Legends Series sponsored by the NCAA. Conradt will deliver the opening keynote on Friday, April 27 at 6:30 p.m. Sharp will headline the Legends Breakfast on Saturday morning at 8 a.m. The three-day professional development symposium, developed by Felicia Hall Allen & Associates, will take place at the Sheraton Dallas hotel in Dallas, Texas April 27-29. Women’s basketball assistant coaches from all collegiate divisions are expected to attend the event.

Symposium hosts Johnny and Felicia Allen said the Dallas symposium would not have been complete without the Hall of Fame coaches.

“We are honored to have two of the most decorated women’s basketball coaches from the state of Texas speak at A Step Up:Dallas,” said the Allens. “Coach Conradt and Coach Sharp have distinguished themselves not only as champions of the game but as teachers for so many coaches who desire to follow in their footsteps.”

A coaching career that spanned 38 years, Conradt held the helm at the University of Texas for 31 years, before retiring in 2007. She finished her coaching career with 900 victories, currently second to Tennessee’s Pat Summit in division one women’s basketball and fourth overall in division one basketball among men and women

Sharp spent 24 seasons as the head coach at Texas Tech University, leading the Red Raiders to a national championship in 1993. Sharp says she is happy to be a part of the event partly because she believes the symposium is very important for women’s basketball.

“I think it is a great event to help coaches take the next step in the profession and hopefully continue to give them ideas that will impact their future,” Sharp said. “It also allows people who are fortunate to have been part of the game to help the sport grow with the next group of bright young coaches.”

The inaugural symposium was held in 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2011 the event moved to Chicago, Illinois where coaching pioneer Teresa Grentz and ESPN analyst and former Purdue head coach Carolyn Peck served as the event’s first keynote speakers of the Legends Series.

Felicia Hall Allen & Associates announced today that the city of Dallas (Texas) has been selected as the site for the 2012 Assistant Basketball Coaches Symposium, A Step Up (Athletic Symposium to Elevate & Uplift Professionals).The Symposium, to be conducted April 27 – April 29, is expected to bring together hundreds of assistant basketball coaches, as well as current and former head coaches and athletic administrators from all divisions of basketball around the country.

“Dallas has a great reputation for its southern hospitality,” said Felicia Hall Allen, CEO of Felicia Hall Allen & Associates. In recent years the city of Dallas has played host to some of our biggest championship level collegiate and professional sporting events. With that in mind, we believe that Dallas will be a great fit for all coaches pursuing championship level success on the sidelines and wanting to take A Step Up in their careers”.

“Each year the committee chooses a new and exciting city to host the symposium in an effort to create an opportunity for coaches across the nation to gain professional development, elevate their performance and expand their knowledge of the game,” said Johnny Allen, the symposium’s director. The first symposium was held in Atlanta, Georgia in 2010. Last year the three-day event moved to Chicago, where over 200 coaches and directors of basketball operations convened in the windy-city for an uplifting, thought-provoking weekend.

Monica Paul, director of sports marketing of the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau, said that the A Step Up symposium is a natural fit for Dallas – one of America’s best sports cities. “In addition to the 2009 NBA All-Star weekend and Super Bowl XLV, the city also recently hosted a successful NCAA Division I Women’s Regional, and we’re preparing to bid on future Big 12 women’s basketball conference tournaments and a future NCAA women’s Final Four.

“Coaches who attend A Step Up will enjoy Dallas’ rich sports history as well as some of the nation’s finest entertainment, arts, dining and shopping.”

Allen, a former NIKE Manager for women’s basketball and Team Executive in the WNBA, created the A Step Up in collaboration with her husband Johnny as a career building and professional development opportunity for women’s basketball coaches. Their mission was simple: to help assistant coaches gain knowledge, discover coaching insights and develop strategies, techniques and tactics to help them reach their full coaching potential.

Felicia Hall Allen & Associates will host its’ annual Assistant Basketball Coaches Symposium, A Step Up: Chicago 2011, at the Intercontinental Hotel Chicago O’Hare. April 29 – May 1. A Step Up (Athletic Symposium to Elevate & Uplift Professionals) was specifically designed as a career building and professional development opportunity for women’s basketball assistant coaches.

Felicia Allen, a former NIKE Manager for women’s basketball and Team Executive in the WNBA, created the Symposium along with her husband Johnny Allen with one mission: to help assistant coaches gain knowledge, discover coaching insights and develop strategies, techniques and tactics to help them reach their full coaching potential.

“We believe that in order to grow the game we have to grow the people who support the leaders of the game, “said Felicia Allen. “We want the assistant coaches to understand the value and impact that they have on building a successful program when they embrace the idea that they can lead from where they are as assistant coaches.”

Texas A&M Associate Head Coach Kelly Bond and Notre Dame Assistant Coach Carol Owens headline a prominent panel of current and former head coaches, assistant coaches and athletic administrators for the three-day event. Bond and Owens faced off in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship game on April 5 where Texas A&M captured its’ first ever title with a 76-70 win over the Fighting Irish.

“The weekend was a gift because it expanded my contact list of coaches who have shared plays, practice drills, recruiting ideas and more, “said
Bond, who participated in last year’s Symposium in Atlanta. “That’s what I love about the symposium. Sometimes we just need a vehicle to have our voices heard. Felicia & Johnny have their foot on the gas and are leading the charge of helping tomorrow’s voices be heard now.”

“There’s nothing like this anywhere else in the country as far as helping assistant coaches is concerned,” added Owens. “It’s exactly what we need in order to move our game and our profession forward, and to help mold not only great assistant coaches, but develop future head coaches as well.”

Joining Bond and Owens are Hall of Fame Coach Theresa Grentz and ESPN Analyst Carolyn Peck. Grentz spent 33-years as a head coach and was inducted into the women’s basketball Hall of Fame in 2001. She currently serves as the Vice President for University Advancement at her alma mater Immaculata

University. Peck led the Purdue Boilermakers to their first-ever NCAA national championship in 1998 becoming the first (and only) African-American woman to win the title.

“This is an essential event that Felicia is putting,” said Peck. “Having been an assistant coach myself and making the transition to head coach, I know the value of being able to share and learn from others in the business.”

Presenters will engage symposium participants on topics such as ‘Crisis Management’, ‘Rising To The Top’, ‘Becoming A Champion’, ‘Winning The Right Way’, ‘Developing Game Changers’, and several others.

New to the 2011 Symposium is a professional development track for Directors of Basketball Operations and Assistants to the Head Coach. This year’s event will also include an On-Court Skills Development Clinic by Mike Procopio of Attack Athletics (Where The Pros Train). Procopio has worked with over 150 NBA players, including Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, Kevin Durant, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo.

The first symposium was held last year in Atlanta, Georgia. More than 100 coaches from universities and colleges around the country attended the two-day event. The name, A Step Up was developed for the 2011 Symposium.

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“Felicia’s ability to provide the right perspective to the right people at the right time makes her incredibly valuable to any organization.”Kevin Henry, Executive VP & Chief Human Resource Officer Executive Stay America

“I didn’t realize how much our team would benefit from the session with Felicia and Johnny until the session was over. Our team was not the same. I would recommend them to any team or organization.”
Dawn Staley, Head Coach, Univ. of South Carolina